With Halloween around the corner, it’s the perfect time to explore some of the spookier plants and animals. Here we take a look at creatures (and flowers) that conjure up the uncanny, and have been named for mythological and modern monsters alike.

The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) shown here might be one of the first creatures in this category to come to mind. These bats, which are native to Central and South America, are named for the mythological creature—and today the associations between bats and vampires has become closely intertwined. These bats do eat blood, using their teeth to bite their prey and lapping the blood with their tongue.